


Extra Hot

by JetBlackHeart



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: (and Mr FOssil), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Blow Jobs, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Masturbation, Smut, and Emma, derek discanio - Freeform, dont even ask, god the muke in this is so fluffy it was terrible, i fucking love cashton, matt skajem, oh yes the infamous coffee shop AU, this whole thing is just really cute and stupid, with cameos by - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 12:58:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6196009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetBlackHeart/pseuds/JetBlackHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A really fluffy Coffee Shop AU with Calum and Luke as the cute baristas, Ashton as Mr Sexy-voice/Pretentious Coffee Guy/Biceps, and Michael as <i>Fucking Michael™</i></p><p>Based on the tumblr post:<br/>Omg I just went to get a latte from my regular coffee shop and I always have the same guy serving me and I must bug him so much as I would always ask for almomd milk (im lactose intolerant) but they would just have lacto free so I stuck with that and today as I drank my latte I could tell the difference in the milk and asked if they started serving almond milk and the guy just shyly said “well you always ask if we have it so i got it specially for you” thiS GUY BOUGHT THE MILK WITH HIS OWN MONEY I FEEL SO PREVILEDGED RIGHT NOW EAAAAHH</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extra Hot

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been more excited to post a fic, nor have I worked so hard on a fic ever so I really hope you guys like it. Shout out to [@cashtontrash](http://cashtontrash.tumblr.com/) who unknowingly gave me a prompt in her [tumblr tags](http://cashtontrash.tumblr.com/post/137012924862/) (thankyou), [@mikeykink](http://mikeykink.tumblr.com/) who legit taught me how to write AUs in literally one sentence, and [@wastethemuke](http://wastethemuke.tumblr.com/) who was moral support and helped me describe Ashton's smile poetically because I'm terrible at it. Also I'm posting this fic as a thank-you to my followers on tumblr, I actually love you.
> 
> Whatever man, I hope you find this fic enjoyable.  
> P.S. Don’t want to read about dick touching? Skip Saturday ;)  
> P.P.S. Idk what coffee shop they work at but it is NOT starbucks I will fucking fight you what the fuck is a grande anyway.  
> This fic has been proof-read but not beta'd, so if you find any mistakes or inconsistencies, please hmu. I'm going to sleep now though, this fic consumed my soul.  
> Thanks for reading~
> 
> \- JetBlackHeart / [@mukeboy](http://mukeboy.tumblr.com)

reblog this edit on tumblr [here](http://mukeboy.tumblr.com/post/140694958025/extra-hot-by-jetblackheart-on-ao3-mature-13k)

Friday

It was stupid-o’clock in the morning, and Calum was so fucking stoked that he wouldn’t be on barista duty until the rush started at seven. He knew he couldn’t bring himself to politely and professionally deal with people this early, so when Luke had offered to spend the opening hour serving, Calum had wanted to like, kiss him or something. He could always rely on Luke to be there when Calum needed him most… ‘most’ being specifically between the hours of six and seven AM on work days.

Calum was out the back in the store room getting more coffee beans when he heard another customer enter the shop, bell jingling way too merrily for this time of morning. Sometimes Calum wondered why he ever thought being a barista would be a good idea when it meant he had to get up before the fucking sun did. Deep down though, he knew at least half the reason why he’d almost immediately applied when Luke had mentioned his workplace had an opening. Calum was a people-watcher.

He liked to observe as people went about their day. He liked watching little kids steal foam from their parents’ cappuccinos. He liked the group of teenage girls who always ordered the same fruity drinks then sat in the far corner, gossiping about boy problems and throwing increasingly obvious glances in Luke’s direction. He liked the regular customers who came in every day before work without fail, but he also liked the variety in the people who just drifted in off the street. He loved how everyone seemed to know everyone, and liked listening to the conversations between complete strangers who just decided to share a table on a Saturday morning. And if there was one thing that Calum had learned since he became a barista, it was that you could tell a damn lot about a person by the coffee they ordered. So, while Luke liked making customers laugh and smile by telling them dumb jokes and doodling little figures on their paper coffee cups, Calum was much more reserved. He preferred to just sit back and watch as people went about their lives. Actually, speaking of Luke,

“Good morning, Sir”, came his disembodied voice, filtering gently through the open door. The greeting was immediately followed by the sound of the register opening, a loud bang, and a string of muttered curses. Calum stifled a laugh; of course Luke would make an idiot of himself first thing in the morning. It was an undeniable fact that Luke was a fantastic barista, but he was also clumsy as hell and was constantly fucking up the register by leaning on random buttons. What Calum was not expecting was a cute, high-pitched giggle to drift from the service area into the store room. Now that was definitely not Luke.

“ _Shit!_ I mean, oops, sorry about that. What can I do for you today?”, Calum heard Luke stammer, no doubt blushing from head to toe with embarrassment.

“Hey man, woah, are you alright there?”, came an unfamiliar but youthful and attractive male voice with a thick Australian accent, resonating with barely-concealed laughter. Calum paused halfway through lifting his sack of coffee beans off the shelf. Now, Calum wasn’t normally the kind of guy to pick up on sentimental stuff such as someone’s voice, but holy shit that accent was _doing things_ to him. It was one of those smoky-sounding, rough voices where you just know that the person it belongs to is going to be drop-dead gorgeous. And Calum would be the first to admit that he was fucked if that giggle wasn’t the most adorable shit he’d ever heard. Calum was undoubtedly intrigued by this entirely-too-cheerful-for-this-time-of-morning stranger with the sexy voice.

He finished hauling the coffee off the shelf, then approached the door to the front. He intended on sneaking a glimpse of Mr Sexy-voice under the guise of topping up the coffee beans. He adjusted the heavy bag in his arms and then peered through the doorway. From his position he could see Luke standing at the register, but Mr Sexy-voice must have been off to the side near the front entrance because Calum couldn’t see him at all.

“May I have a takeaway, regular, extra-hot, one and half pumps caramel, two shots macchiato with almond milk, and a sprinkle of allspice please?”

Calum froze just before he walked out into the service area. What… the flying fuck… did he just hear?

“Oh”, came Luke’s significantly quieter response. “We uh… we actually don’t carry almond milk here sorry… would, uh, soy be okay?” Even Luke, who normally liked tackling difficult requests, sounded a bit put-out. Understandably so, thought Calum. What kind of obnoxious order _was_ that?

Calum missed Mr Sexy-voice’s response, seeing as he was too busy trying to get his head around that fucking _ridiculous_ order, but it must have been in the affirmative because Luke went about fixing the drink all the same.

Calum sighed heavily, turning around and heaving the sack of beans onto the metal counter with a thud. He resisted the urge to just smack his own head against the counter as well. Of _course_ Mr Sexy-voice would be one of those stupid pretentious-coffee drinking dickheads. While Luke, who was always at his most confident when making coffee, _liked_ the challenge of over-the-top orders, Calum simply could not stand those kinds of people. It was just Calum’s luck that the only potentially-hot individual that had come in all week was almost certainly a pompous asshole. He slumped against the table, feeling dejected and no longer wanting to see if the mysterious man was as hot as he imagined.

Calum didn’t bring the coffee beans out until he heard Luke utter a quiet but cheerful, “Goodbye, have a nice day!” and the bell ring, signalling that Mr Sexy-voice had left the store. Calum pretended he didn’t see Luke’s raised eyebrows and incredulous stare. Instead he went about refilling the coffee machine, wallowing in unreasonable disappointment and trying to shake the echoes of that husky voice out of his head.

****

Monday

Calum had only worked for a few hours on Saturday morning, and like usual it’d been fairly quiet so he’d spent most of his shift trying to perfect his cappuccino foam art. He’d attended an optional seminar at uni in the afternoon, and then spent the entirety of his Sunday being dragged around IKEA by Mali, who insisted that his whole goddamn apartment apparently needed redecorating. So really, Calum had a valid excuse as to why he was extremely tired and not totally with it when he showed up at work on Monday morning. Once again, Luke had genuinely saved his life by offering to serve the first few customers, so Calum found himself shuffling around the storefront, mindlessly wiping down tables before they opened for the day. He was on his second last table when he saw Luke putting the chalkboard (which was covered in more of his shitty stick figures) out on the footpath and flipping the sign on the door to say ‘OPEN’. Calum figured he better abandon his table in favour of going to the store room to get more coffee beans.

By twenty past six, Luke had finished serving the regular customers who usually ambled in within the first ten minutes of opening. He made small talk as he provided them with their morning caffeine before they made their way to work. Calum was struggling to keep his eyes open as he swept up the dirt that fell off the boots of that one middle-aged construction worker every _fucking_ morning, but his gaze drifted to the door as he heard it sweep open, bell tinkling away.

Within the space of a single second, Calum had to prevent exactly three things from dropping to the ground: his jaw, his broom, and his pants. He was either having vivid hallucinations from exhaustion, or he was actually witnessing a real life god walk into the store. The man was absolutely fucking gorgeous. A black beanie was tugged low on head, but a few caramel coloured curls hung loose around his face as he walked over to the counter. He was wearing sinfully tight black jeans and scuffed boots that hadn’t been laced properly. There was a red flannel slung haphazardly around his hips, and a black bag filled with books hung over his shoulder. Calum swallowed, watching the guy’s muscles flex as he adjusted the strap on his bag. The sleeves on his white t-shirt looked like they were about to tear clean off from the strain of his bulging biceps, and fuck, what Calum wouldn’t give to see _that_.

That’s it, come on, just a little more…

“Hello Sir, how are you this morning?”, came a soft but cheery greeting from Luke.

Calum blanched, realising he’d actually been leaning on the broom handle and downright staring at this frankly delicious-looking man like he was about to jump the poor guy. He resumed sweeping the floor, ducking his head to hide his embarrassed flush even though the man was standing with his back to him. Calum discretely edged a bit closer so that he could listen in on the conversation.

“Hey man, I’m not bad thank you”, replied the man in a rich… Australian… accent…

...Oh _fuck_ off. There was no way…

“Could I please get a takeaway, regular, extra-hot, one and half pumps caramel, two shots macchiato with a sprinkle of allspice and… I suppose you don’t happen to have almond milk today do you?”

Oh come on, the universe was just being plain cruel to him now. Of _fucking_ course this insanely attractive man, of all people, would be Mr Sexy-voice/Pretentious Coffee Guy from Friday morning.

“No sorry sir, only soy”, responded Luke apologetically, but he must have guessed that it wouldn’t be a problem because he was already pressing buttons on the machine to prepare the man’s coffee.

“Ah that’s okay”, said the man. Calum could hear the smile in his voice. “Like normally I’d look for a different shop that does almond milk, but fuck, dude, you make a mean coffee. I downed the last one so quick that I nearly singed my tongue off, but damn, it was worth it. And the place you got here is so nice that I couldn’t help but come back”.

“Hey thanks very much, I’m really glad you liked it”, grinned Luke, looking over the top of the coffee machine at the man. Calum struggled to remove the pout that had unwittingly settled on his lips. The guy was a total babe. Like sure his coffee preference was obnoxious as fuck but he was literally the sexiest guy that Calum had ever seen, not to mention that goddamn husky accent. Frick, he was about one of the friendliest customers they’d ever had, and to top it all off, Calum may or may not have a great need to get his tongue on those biceps. Calum didn’t know what to think anymore. Like, the dude’s coffee order took up an entire novel, but at the same time he’d said that Luke had nailed it, so maybe Calum shouldn’t be assuming that the man was one of those elitist coffee drinking assholes that he disliked so much.

While Calum was busy overthinking everything, he had finished sweeping up the dirt, and had returned to wiping down tables. He glanced up just in time to see Luke push the man’s coffee across the counter and hand him the change.

“Thanks loads Luke, I appreciate it”, said the man as he turned around to leave the store. “You have a great day”.

“Hey thanks man, no worries. Hope you come back soon!”, called Luke enthusiastically. The man’s compliments had probably made Luke’s entire day, the giant sap.

As the guy turned back slightly to throw a wave over his shoulder at Luke, his eyes landed on Calum for the first time. Calum gulped as he watched the guy’s warm, hazel eyes rake slowly up his body, and when they finally locked with his own, Calum froze. He could only stare tight-jawed as the man disappeared out the door and onto the street.

Calum had to physically shake himself out of his stupor and hoped that the tips of his ears weren’t burning too obviously as he wiped over the table one last time, not that Luke was the most observant person in the world. However, no matter how hard Calum tried, he couldn’t shake the image of adorable dimples, a chiselled jawline, and thin lips that had been pulled into a cocky smirk. The man’s cheeky grin had lit up the entire fucking room, and it remained burned into Calum’s brain for the rest of the day.

****

Tuesday

Calum emerged from the back room about half an hour after they’d opened on Tuesday morning, carrying a large sack of Arabica coffee beans. He tried not to grimace when he was met by the death-glare of some sour-faced old man that Calum had never seen before. Luke was busy working the coffee machine, chatting away to one of their regular customers, a delightful girl named Emma who worked at the alternative fashion store on the next block over. She came in every weekday and ordered a small ginger-spice latte, but every so often she would come in looking especially tired and ask them to surprise her with something new and interesting. Calum liked her.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment”, Calum called to the grumpy-looking man, receiving only a grunt in return. Working quickly to avoid pissing off old Captain Fossil even further, he sliced open the top corner of the fifteen kilogram bag and heaved it up, carefully pouring the coffee beans into the grinder. Calum was concentrating fairly hard, since the bag was heavy and unless he wanted it to spill everywhere, he had to hold it up at an awkward angle. So it wasn’t really his fault that he nearly shit himself when he lowered the sack of coffee only to see that Biceps had apparently entered the shop and was standing _right there_. The guy had come in yet _again_ , and currently appeared to be checking out Calum’s straining arms as he lifted the heavy bag. Suddenly the room felt about ten degrees warmer, and Calum just about lost his nerve when he saw that same fucking crooked smirk spread slowly over the man’s handsome face.

Avoiding eye-contact in an attempt to preserve any of his remaining chill, Calum turned around and dumped the still mostly-full bag of coffee on the steel counter before making his way to the register to serve old Captain Fossil.

“Good morning Sir, how are-”

“Took you long enough. I want a coffee”, Captain Fossil interrupted him rudely.

Calum choked back a startled laugh, and he could feel his hands balling into fists by his sides. “What kind of coffee can I get you Sir?”, he asked, trying to remain as polite as possible despite knowing that this encounter was going to go downhill very quickly.

“A LARGE ONE”, bellowed Captain Fossil in an unnecessarily loud voice. “WITH AN EXTRA SHOT”.

“The extra shot will cost a bit more, is that okay-?”

“I WANT AN EXTRA SHOT.”

“Coming right up”, replied Calum shortly, biting his lip to prevent any kind of sarcastic remark from spilling out. He could feel his eyes roll almost into the back of his head as he turned to the coffee machine to make the stupid drink. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him in front of Biceps, of all people. When he finished, he returned to the register and placed the takeaway cup on the tabletop.

“That’ll be three dollars fifty thankyou Sir”, said Calum, pushing a couple of buttons on the register.

“WHAT? WHY IS IT SO MUCH?”, yelled the old man, leaning over the counter presumably in an attempt to get in Calum’s face.

By now, the few other people in the shop were looking over the tops of newspapers and craning their necks to see what all the commotion was about. Calum could see Luke out of the corner of his eye, and the idiot looked like he was about to explode from holding in laughter at how nonsensical the old man was being. Luke handed Emma her coffee, and she shot Calum a sympathetic look. “Have a great day guys”, she called as she walked to the door. Calum felt like his face was about to crack from holding in laughter when she made an obscene hand gesture at Captain Fossil’s back, before waving, blowing a kiss, and disappearing out the door. Calum snuck a glance at Biceps, and felt a jolt of heat run through him at the young man’s positively thunderous expression. Biceps looked _furious_ , fists clenching and unclenching, glowering angrily at the old man like he wanted nothing more than to knock the guy out for daring to shout at Calum.

“Well sir, the extra shot adds a bit on to the total cost”, gritted Calum, maintaining his exaggeratedly false smile.

“That is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS, I AM NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN”, shouted Captain Fossil as he literally threw his money on the counter, grabbing his coffee with so much force that some of it sloshed out onto the bench.

“I hope you have a positively wonderful day Sir!”, called Calum, voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm to match his cheesy grin.

“Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out”, jeered Biceps as Captain Fossil wrenched the door open and stomped out onto the street.

“Great now I’ve gotta clean up your mess you fucking crusty assed stalactite”, muttered Calum bitterly, glaring at the closed door.

At that, Luke finally lost it, letting out an unattractive snort of laughter, and the dam just broke from there. Luke doubled over and started absolutely cracking up, breathlessly repeating words like “that was fucking priceless”, and “fucking… stalactite oh my _God_ Calum”. This prompted the few other customers who had witnessed the scene to let out unsubtle peals of laughter. Calum smiled toothily at how fucking ridiculous the whole exchange had been.

He looked over at Biceps only to see that the angry scowl seemed to have disappeared along with the old man. Instead he had dissolved into a fit of giggles, exactly like he had on the first day he came in. It was cute as shit and Calum found that he couldn’t look away from the man’s dimply smile that rivalled the fucking sun with how bright it was. Calum felt the spark of heat from before ignite a fire deep in his belly at how this attractive stranger could go from a hot, protective asshole to an adorable giggly baby in the blink of an eye. Calum surprised himself when a deep chuckle rumbled out of his own chest, and he just shook his head with how silly they were all being. He chose to ignore how far gone he already was for Biceps.

“Alright alright, nothing to see here”, Luke managed to call jokingly towards the customers who were still chortling away in their seats, despite the fact that he was still choking on laughter himself. Once everyone had more or less gone back to their own business, Calum grabbed a cloth and wiped up the mess that Captain Fossil had made on the counter.

“Hey man, back again I see”, gasped Luke, grinning like a complete moron as he tried to get his breath back. “Sorry you had to see that”.

“Hey Luke, nah no worries”, replied Biceps, also unsuccessfully trying to stifle his giggles. “Christ I can’t believe you gotta deal with shitty people like that, what a joke”.

“Joke is _right_ man, that shit’s hilarious. I guess it’s not too bad though. Like, we can laugh it off most of the time, and it doesn’t happen too often anyway. That dude was a right piece of work though, definitely one of the more stupid ones”, smiled Luke.

“Truth”, acknowledged Biceps solemnly. “Well, I hope it doesn’t get much worse than that. In the meantime, I’ll have a takeaway, regular, extra-hot, one and half pumps caramel, two shots macchiato with a dash of allspice and almond milk if you’ve got it, thank-you Luke”.

“Absolutely, though it’ll have to be soy. I’ll have it ready for you in a couple of minutes”, beamed Luke, grabbing one of the paper cups and moving over to stand beside Calum.

“You alright bro?”, Luke murmured as he started the coffee machine, poking Calum gently in the shoulder. The younger boy’s big blue eyes were all round with concern, and it made Calum’s heart hurt, how much Luke cared about his friends underneath his dorky exterior.

“Yeah, yeah man I’m fine, I promise”, Calum assured him. “It could’ve been way worse. The dude was a fucking idiot”.

“No shit”, chuckled Luke, apparently satisfied that Calum wasn’t actually affected by the situation. “Hey actually! Sorry dude, I just remembered. Do you mind wiping out the muffin cabinet for me while you’re at it? I accidently dropped one before and it, like… shattered… everywhere”.

“Of course you did Luke, you have fricken butterfingers”, teased Calum as he grabbed a brush and a cloth to clean up the mess.

“Oiiii”, whined Luke turning around to add caramel to the drink.

Calum didn’t really mind. Luke was doing favours for him all the time, and besides, at least Calum was able to discretely ogle Biceps from here, not to mention eavesdrop on his conversation with Luke.

“So uhhhhh…”, started Luke.

“Ashton. M’ name’s Ashton”, divulged Biceps – well, Ashton. Calum liked that name, it definitely suited him.

“So, Ashton”, repeated Luke, sounding delighted by his progress with this customer. “Why haven’t you stumbled into our little shop before now?”

“Well, I actually just moved here from Australia. But I s’pose you would’ve figured that out already from my accent”, chuckled Ashton, sounding a bit sheepish almost. Calum couldn’t help but find the man’s slight reluctance incredibly endearing. “But yeah, I transferred universities and moved into an apartment down the road from here”.

“No way! That sounds so intense”, said Luke, eyes wide with wonder. “What’s it been like?”

“It was pretty scary at first, like I only got here a week before the start of semester. Not gonna lie though, the coffee everywhere else is complete shit, so I’m stoked that you’re such a good barista. This shop you have here, there’s just something about it that keeps me coming back”, said Ashton, looking pointedly at Calum as he voiced the last part. Calum’s eyes widened, not only at being caught staring but at the implication of the statement. “At the very least it gives me a bit of routine before I have to head to class every day”, Ashton finished, looking back at Luke.

Luke laughed easily, once again soaking up the praise as he doodled a song lyric on the cup with a sharpie. _**[Smooth seas don’t make good sailors, jump ship and head for failure.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H7ly9xZa5o)**_ He handed Ashton the hot drink.

“You know Ashton, I’m glad to hear that. Something tells me we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other so I’m looking forward to it”, Luke smiled genuinely.

Calum didn’t know if Luke had actually picked up on the tension or if he was just alluding to how Ashton seemed to be coming in for coffee every weekday morning without fail.

Either way, Ashton simply flashed them both a lopsided grin. “I sure hope so. See ya”, he said as he pushed the correct change across the counter, before raising his hand in a casual salute and exiting the shop.

Calum watched Ashton leave, then realised he’d been wiping the exact same bit of glass for a solid three minutes. Calum let out a defeated sigh, wishing he knew how to respond to hot boys who were blatantly flirting with him, instead of just staring at them like a hopeless loser.

****

Wednesday

By seven fifteen, the majority of the customers from the morning rush had bustled back out the door with their skinny lattes-to-go. Alternatively, they had taken a seat in the squishy armchairs and were happily chatting away to one another over a steaming espresso. Calum was feeling pretty good this morning, just lounging behind the register in case anyone came in, seeing as Luke was… occupied.

Luke was lucky that it wasn’t busy, because it’d been ten minutes already and he was _still_ serving Calum’s idiot of a friend Michael.

Bloody Michael. He’d come in for the first time about three weeks ago to see Calum at work, and the second he’d laid eyes on Luke, he was completely done for. Since then, Calum was forced to watch as Michael came in to the shop every time he had a morning class with the sole intention of shamelessly flirting with Luke. Not to mention how whenever Michael came around Calum’s place, he would not shut up about “how fucking hot Luke looked today Calum, like did you see his lip ring?”

“Yes Michael, in case you haven’t noticed I work with him, so I see his lip piercing every day”.

“God yeah, when he bites his lip I just wanted to destroy him, pull his hair and make him beg for my-”

“OH COME OFF IT, MICHAEL!”

“We’ll I’d rather cum _on_ it, if you know what I mean.”

“You’re a goddamn fiend, you know that right?”

It was the strangest combination of annoying as fuck and absolutely hilarious, especially since Luke was just as bad.

“Shit, Cal, did you see how good Michael looked in that leather jacket?”

“Yes Luke, I was literally standing right next to you”.

“Frick and his lips, Cal, they’d feel so perfect stretched around my-”

“TOO MUCH INFORMATION LUKE!”

It just so happened that Wednesday was one of Michael’s early classes, so here he was, leaning casually on the counter and trying to woo a very flustered and consequently very adorable Luke. It was sickening, really, how hopeless they both were. Like Calum knew that Michael didn’t even normally drink coffee. The blue-haired boy would have this cocky smirk on his face as he ordered some creamy, overly-chocolatey mocha that Luke had invented for him on his second visit, and then start firing off compliments like it was the easiest thing in the world. Of course, it completely fucked Luke up. The poor boy would be blushing ferociously, stammering out responses and stuffing up the drink from nerves before eventually getting it right. Calum even had a bet going with his one of the regular customers, a skater named Derek, as to how long it’d take before they eventually got together. Calum only had until the end of the month before he lost.

Calum was jolted out of his thoughts by a very familiar face strolling in through the door. He was lucky that Michael was busy chatting up Luke, because otherwise there was no way the blue-haired man would’ve missed the way Calum turned all heart-eyes the second he saw Ashton.

As soon as Ashton noticed that Luke was busy and it was Calum behind the register, his face absolutely lit up in a toothy grin, and fuck, Calum was gonna throw himself into the sea.

“Hey, morning Ashton”, smiled Calum, trying to be polite even though he felt like he was burning up on the inside. He could already feel a blush rising to his cheeks when he heard how his voice unintentionally came out just a little lower than usual. “What can I get for you today?”

“Hey there uhhh… Calum!”, began Ashton, leaning on the counter slightly to check the barista’s nametag. “Busy morning?”

“Nah it’s been pretty steady today actually. Though the two oblivious idiots over there are probably scaring away half our customers with how grossly cute they’re being”, smirked Calum, gesturing to Luke and Michael. Ashton glanced over at them and his smile widened.

“They together?”, asked Ashton, eyebrows knitting together ever so slightly.

“Not yet”, chuckled Calum, “but I have a bet with one of my regulars that they’ll be boning by the end of the month”. Ashton let surprised, genuine laugh, and it was music to Calum’s ears. He decided that he wanted to be the reason Ashton laughed like that, like, forever.

“So um, can I get you a coffee today Ash, or?”, mumbled Calum, desperately trying to keep his blush under control.

“Oh yeah, sorry. Can I please get a takeaway, regular, extra-hot, one and half pumps caramel, two shots macchiato with allspice and almond milk if you’ve got it?” It was beyond Calum why Ashton was still asking for almond milk. They didn’t have it the last like, three times he’d been in but it seemed that the man was nothing if not persistent.

“Sorry man, our store doesn’t carry almond milk. You good with soy?”, asked Calum apologetically.

“I suppose it’ll have to do, thank you”, replied Ashton, laughing a little. While that particular statement had so much potential to sound sarcastic and rude, Ashton had said it nothing but politely and it made Calum feel all tingly.

Calum busied himself with making the technically difficult coffee in an attempt to distract himself from just how far Ashton was out of Calum’s league. His distraction technique didn’t work for long. As Calum filled the bottom of the cup with caramel, he heard someone banging out a drumbeat on the counter. Calum glanced behind him to see Ashton’s large, calloused hands tapping away to some song only he could hear. The younger boy blinked a couple times and it felt like his heart was falling in sync with the beat of Ashton’s absentminded drumming. _Fuck it_ , he thought, and grabbed a couple of different jars off the shelf before sprinkling the contents into the cup. Calum moved back to the machine to add the coffee.

“Hey Calum”, said Ashton suddenly, face splitting into a toothy grin as he stopped drumming on the bench. “I think you’re about to win your bet.”

“What?”, asked Calum, feeling confused by the sudden remark.

“Look”, responded Ashton simply, and pointed over to where Luke and Michael were still caught up in each other, a couple of metres away down the other end of the service area.

“Oh my god”, spluttered Calum as he watched Luke hurriedly scrawl his fucking phone number onto the lid of Michael’s cup while the blue-haired boy was distracted, rooting around in his pockets for change. When Calum squinted, he could read the lyrics, [_**I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your neck**_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3JJxS0gNkE) written in messy cursive on the side of the cup. What a fucking loser. It seemed that Luke had finally cracked and fallen for Michael’s idiotic charm.

Calum looked back at Ashton, only to see the man already beaming at him, before both of them broke into laughter simultaneously. Ashton tried in vain to stifle his adorable giggle with the back of his hand. They only just managed to avoid the attention of Luke and Michael.

“Bye Mikey”, said Luke quietly, and he was blushing like mad as he pushed the takeaway cup across the counter.

“Seeya on the flipside baby”, Michael smirked charmingly as he backed out of the door, somehow managing not to trip over any of the chairs or his own untied shoelaces. He clearly hadn’t noticed the writing. Yet. As the door closed, he poked his tongue out at Calum through the glass and flipped him off before continuing down the sidewalk. Calum just laughed.

“Real smooth, Luke”, chuckled Calum at the younger boy, and Luke’s flush deepened even further.

“Shut up Cal”, whined Luke. When he saw Ashton standing there with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, Luke buried his head in his hands.

“Oh my god, I’m... I’m gonna go out the back for a bit”, whispered Luke through his fingers, sounding embarrassed as hell, like he was only barely keeping himself together. Calum patted him soothingly on the back as he shuffled past.

“It’ll be fine Luke, he’s definitely into you”, said Ashton comfortingly, giving Luke a thumbs up when he finally lowered his hands.

“You think so?”, murmured Luke.

“I know so”, filled in Calum. Luke’s shy gaze drifted to the ground, and his lips turned up in the tiniest, most hopeful smile before he disappeared into the back room.

“What a sap”, said Calum, shaking his head as he finished off Ashton’s coffee. “Now they’re gonna be all over each other even more than usual. They’re lucky they’re so cute”.

“Cute is right”, agreed Ashton easily, though it didn’t sound like he was talking about Luke and Michael anymore. Calum’s belly was starting to feel warm again. He handed Ashton the hot drink and picked the cash up off the counter.

“Hey Ashton”, started Calum, scratching behind his head nervously.

“Mm?”

“You… you should probably try it before you leave. Th-the drink, I mean”, stuttered Calum, handing Ashton the change.

Ashton stared directly at Calum as he delicately lifted the cup to his lips and sipped at the hot liquid.

“Holy shit, what’d you put in this?”, groaned Ashton, eyebrows creasing into a frown.

“It… I, uh, sorry, if you don’t like it I’ll make you another one for free, I just thought that-”

“Calum, whatever you did, it tastes fucking incredible… like wow, what the hell. It’s so good”, Ashton practically moaned as he sipped at the drink again.

“…really?”, Calum finally managed, as he tried not to let Ashton’s unreasonably pornographic sounds get to him. “It was just a bit of cinnamon and a pump of vanilla”, he mumbled.

“Any chance you’d be able to make it this way again some time? Fuck, if anything’s gonna get me through my shitty morning class, it’s this”, grinned Ashton, raising the cup in a little toast as he turned to leave.

“Yeah!”, exclaimed Calum, way too enthusiastically. “…I mean, yeah, I think I can manage that”, he corrected himself, trailing off at the end in embarrassment.

“Looking forward to it. Thanks so much Cal, hopefully I’ll see you around”, smiled Ashton, throwing a cheeky wink over his shoulder as he strode out of the store.

Calum stood unmoving for a long time after Ashton disappeared from view. The sexiest guy he’d ever seen in his life had given him a nickname and winked at him, then told him he _hoped to see him again_. Calum was pretty sure he was just being flirted with all he’d done was blush and stutter like an absolute moron. He could’ve at least written his number on the cup like Luke had, but no, Calum just had to get all weird and awkward around cute guys. Calum only realised the scale of his problem when he thought about how even _Luke_ , potentially the dorkiest kid in the world, was pulling hot boys better than he was.

****

Thursday

On Thursday morning, Luke took his break unusually early in the shift so he could sit down in a booth and have breakfast with _fucking_ Michael. Or more like Michael had waltzed into the shop as soon as Calum opened the door, then made a beeline for where Luke was standing behind the register and jumped up, perching his ass on the counter. He then proceeded to lean over the benchtop and plant a kiss right on Luke’s flaming cheek, then demanded Luke sit with him while he drank his stupid mocha. And Luke, the pushover, hadn’t even argued that he had a _job_ to do. He’d just obediently made Michael his drink, put two warm muffins on a plate, called out “Cal I’m taking my break early today!”, and let Michael grab his hand and drag him around the counter to one of the booths.

Calum had watched as Michael, that smooth motherfucker, had let Luke sit down first then unabashedly slid into the spot next to him, as opposed to across from him like a normal person. Michael casually slung a tattooed arm around Luke’s broad shoulders, then broke off a piece of muffin and gently fed it to him. They were both smiling like fools with whole time; it was adorable as hell and it made Calum want to throw up.

Calum spent that first hour and a half serving, wiping tables and refilling the syrups. It was starting to pick up when he noticed Michael standing up and holding a hand out to help Luke up. The older boy grabbed Luke’s hand and pulled him up out of the seat and straight into a cuddle, denim-clad arms wrapping around him tightly. Calum didn’t miss the way Michael whispered into Luke’s ear as his fingers drifted down to grip a handful of the blonde barista’s ass, who blushed violently and visibly shivered at the gesture. Just as Michael was turning to leave, Luke plopped a quick, sweet kiss on his cheek. “See you tonight then?”, Luke asked, voice low but lips turned up at the corners in an adoring smile.

“Yeah babe, see you tonight. Have a good day, kay?”, replied Michael, green eyes sparkling.

“Mmhm”, hummed Luke, and gave Michael a tiny little wave as the blue-haired man pulled the door open and stood in the door jamb.

“BYE CAL!”, shouted Michael unnecessarily loudly, scaring the shit out of the two middle-aged women who were patiently waiting for their drinks.

Calum frowned at him over the top of the coffee machine for a good five seconds before he finally caved and droned out an unimpressed “ _Bye_ Michael”, in a ridiculously sarcastic tone.

“We don’t know that guy”, said Luke facetiously, smiling brightly as he re-tied his apron and earning giggles from the two women.

The two baristas were busy all morning, a steady flow of customers keeping them working hard to finish all the orders on time. As the clock ticked on, Calum felt more and more agitated, worried that Ashton wasn’t going to come in this morning. Maybe Calum had screwed up by messing with his drink order and scared the man off. Ashton probably hadn’t liked the coffee from yesterday at all, but was too polite to say anything and had instead just lied to save Calum’s feelings. Shit, Ashton probably wasn’t even into dudes. By eleven o’clock, Calum had given up hope. As much as he told himself he wasn’t affected by Ashton’s good looks and captivating personality, he spent the last hour of his shift trying not to feel disappointed. Eventually even Luke noticed that Calum was being even more reserved than usual, and tried to cheer him up by drawing really ridiculous cartoon figures on the customer’s cups. It worked to an extent, since it took Calum’s mind off the curly-haired man. He really did appreciate Luke’s efforts.

When they knocked off for the day at twelve, Luke made Calum his favourite vanilla hot chocolate and told him to text him when he felt better. It wasn’t until later that Calum noticed that Luke hadn’t sprinkled any allspice on the top of the foam like he usually did, and it was only when he looked closer that he noticed the letters inked on the side of his cup. Doodled next to a little upside-down umbrella, were the lyrics [_**Cause it’s hard to attract you… Got me so dark blue.**_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZYkdr80SR0) Okay so maybe Luke wasn’t quite as oblivious as he let on… or Calum’s crush on Ashton wasn’t nearly as subtle as he thought it was.

****

That evening, Calum found himself trudging around the small supermarket near his apartment, looking for some pasta sauce. Mali must have used the rest of his last Sunday and _not told him_ , so he got halfway through cooking his spaghetti when he realised he was going to have to make a run to the shop. He eventually found the bottles of red sauce right down on one of the bottom shelves, so he picked up one of the smaller jars and made his way to the register.

He was just about to get in line when something…- some _one_ caught his eye. Standing there in all of his handsome glory was Ashton. The poor guy looked tired as hell, he was wearing that same black beanie, loose grey track pants and a black muscle tee, which just showed off his tanned arms in the best possible way. Ashton just looked so worn out and cuddly and it probably shouldn’t have turned Calum on but it definitely _did_. He had a box of cereal tucked under one arm and he was currently looking in a fridge containing… almond milk, of all fucking things. Calum watched him open the glass door to grab a carton of it, before he quickly ducked into the next aisle so he could remain undetected.

Ashton meandered over to the register, and Calum, damn his inherent curiosity, waited until another customer went behind the man before he joined the line himself. He kept his head turned away and pretended to examine something on the shelves next to the checkout, just in case Ashton decided to turn around. Calum wasn’t super keen for an awkward confrontation right now, especially now that he’d convinced himself that Ashton was either straight or just wasn’t interested.

When Ashton got to the front of the line, the high-school aged, male cashier with dyed bright red hair started up a conversation with him. It was clear that this was a regular occurrence between the two – Ashton _had_ mentioned that he lived around here.

“Hey Ashton, what’s up? No offence man but you look wrecked”, said the young boy.

“Hey mate, oh god yeah I can imagine I look drained”, murmured Ashton, voice sounding even deeper and rougher than usual, probably from tiredness. He was smiling, but still looked exhausted.

“My memory stick died yesterday just as I finished my paper, so I had to stay up ‘til seven this morning trying to re-write half of it before I handed it in. I got it done eventually, but I’m not sure if it was as good as the first one. Then I slept until like, twelve, so I missed my early lecture, which meant I was completely lost during the discussion tutorial this afternoon, and to top it all off I didn’t even get to see the cute barista at the coffee shop this morning. And then I ran out of cereal _and_ milk, so yeah, today has not been great”, Ashton finished dejectedly. Calum’s eyes widened in shock; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Awww dude, that’s the worst. Yeah I remember you mentioning how you met some gorgeous brunette the other day. What was her name again?”, asked the cashier as he gave Ashton his receipt.

“ _His_ name is Calum”, replied Ashton with a warm smile. “Thanks Matt, I’ll see you later. Don’t work too hard”, he called as he left the store.

“Bye Ashton, good luck with your dude!”, yelled the kid - Matt - as the doors slid shut behind Ashton. The woman who was next in line scowled at Matt when she handed her items over, and Calum couldn’t work out whether it was because she was homophobic, because the two boys had taken their time chatting, or because Matt had raised his voice. Either way, Calum had to fight off an elated giggle, not only at how the red-haired boy glared absolute daggers at her, but how he couldn’t fucking believe that Ashton was apparently even remotely into him. Calum shook his head at his own stupidity; he had been an absolute idiot all day, worrying himself about nothing. Ashton thought he was _cute_.

Suddenly, an idea sprang into Calum’s head, and he only had to think about it for a further two seconds before he turned and strode back into the store. There was something else he needed to buy.

****

Friday

On Friday morning when Ashton came in, Calum had convinced himself that he was fucking ready. Ashton’s boots clunked heavily on the ground as he strode through the door, looking undoubtedly fuckable in those sleek black jeans and torn brown muscle shirt. He brushed his honey blonde hair off his forehead as he walked, and the way his arm muscles rippled with the movement made Calum’s heart race and jeans feel tighter.

Luke eventually noticed the heavy footsteps and looked up from whatever he was doing with the chocolate powder. As soon as he saw it was Ashton, he gave Calum this really disconcerting side-glance and started pretending to mess around with the steaming wands. He wasn’t fooling anyone, that eavesdropping twit. Calum started to get all fidgety with the register from nervousness and excitement, but managed to calm himself down before he got carried away and made an idiot of himself. He could do this.

When Ashton stopped at the register, he leaned his arms on the front counter and smiled apologetically at Calum. “Hey Cal”, he started hesitantly, “I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it in yesterday, there was a bit of a… problem-”.

“It’s fine Ashton, really”, Calum insisted sincerely. “Shit happens, hey?”, he smiled as he started preparing the man’s coffee.

“Yeah”, giggled Ashton. He sounded relived. “I suppose it does. Still sucks though, I really wanted to see you”, and the way he said it was so genuine that Calum didn’t even try to stop himself from blushing this time. Ashton was too much.

“I wanted to see you too Ash, I kinda liked having you come in every morning. S’alright though, you’re here now”, mumbled Calum, looking up at the man coyly as he swirled caramel and vanilla around the edges of the cup. Ashton’s grin only widened at the nickname, and he was downright beaming by the time Calum finished.

“Well then, we’ll just have to make up for lost time this morning, wont we?”, smirked Ashton as his eyes roamed Calum’s body, from his tan arms, to the black shirt pulled tight over his hard chest, eventually settling on the younger boy’s flushed face.

“Yeah, we will”, confirmed Calum with a cheeky grin. “You’re almost lucky that you weren’t in yesterday to be honest, I mean, I had to witness the most sickeningly sweet breakfast date between Luke and his idiot.”

“Hey!”, protested Luke, as he wandered over to the register, smacking Calum’s side as he went past. “Morning Ashton”.

“G’morning Luke”, Ashton chimed happily.

“And”, interjected Calum, carrying on the conversation, “by the sounds of it, they saw each other last night as well. You gonna share, Lukey?”, he teased.

“Oh my god I thought you’d never ask”, he groaned dramatically. “It was the best night _ever”_. Calum laughed – Luke was so predictable. The second _Michael_ was involved, especially when he did something cute, frick, it was all Luke’d talk about for the next three weeks.

“Buckle up Ash, this could take a while”, snickered Calum.

For the next ten minutes or so, the three boys talked and laughed together. Calum threw the occasional sarcastic comment over his shoulder from his spot at the coffee machine as Luke told them all about the underground rock gig Michael had taken him to last night. Calum couldn’t stop smiling. They were all joking and chatting like it was the easiest thing in the world, like they’d known each other for years, not a mere few days. Every time Ashton laughed, Calum felt his big dumb crush swell in his chest. He could _feel_ the sparks flying whenever Ashton’s attention was focussed on him, and if he was honest with himself, it felt fucking good. Besides, he told himself, Ashton was really hot; it was only natural for Calum to feel flustered around him. The conversation between the three boys was fun and light-hearted and Calum wanted to do this forever.

Eventually another customer came in and Luke was temporarily distracted from his story right about the time Calum finished Ashton’s drink. He squeezed the cap on top, pressing down firmly to make sure it wouldn’t leak, then placed it on top of the counter.

“So Ash, today I’ve made you a takeaway, large instead of regular because you look tired, _extra_ -hot, one and half pumps caramel, one pump vanilla, two shots macchiato with a sprinkle of allspice, a bit of cinnamon, and a splash of almond milk”, reeled off Calum as he wiped his hands on his apron.

Ashton stared at him in wonder, mouth slowly spreading into a gorgeous, affectionate smile, dimples and all. “You remembered it”, he stated simply. Calum blushed and nodded, his eyes darting around Ashton’s face hesitantly. When he finally met Ashton’s gaze, his belly felt all warm and his eyes crinkled up cutely as he grinned back at the man.

“Thanks so much Cal, I honestly really needed this today-”, said Ashton, before taking a long sip from the drink. Calum’s heart just about stopped when Ashton paused slightly, stared down at the cup for a second, then took another sip before looking back up at Calum. “…Cal, I can taste the difference… this has almond milk in it. I thought you guys didn’t do almond milk here?”, he questioned in a low voice. His eyes were wide and expressive, forehead creased slightly in curiosity.

“We… we don’t actually, I just- you asked for it every day so I figured you must actually really prefer it over soy so… I went and… bought some, especially for you”, muttered Calum. His face felt hot and his palms were sweaty, but since yesterday at the supermarket, he had decided that it’d be worth it just to see Ashton smile.

“You… you bought almond milk… just for me?”, asked Ashton quietly. A gentle, understatedly grateful smile graced his features as his eyes once again met Calum’s. Whenever Ashton spoke to Calum, his rough accent always seemed to soften the smallest fraction and _fuck_ , Calum wanted to taste his lips so badly.

Instead, he managed to breathe out, “I…. well… yeah. Yeah I guess I did”, willing himself to maintain eye contact. He watched in unbridled wonder as Ashton’s lips split into a magnificent grin, looking at Calum like he had just painted the stars in the night sky. Ashton’s eyes were glistening in the warm morning light, and when his breath came out in a happy, giggly rush, Calum knew he was completely and totally done for.

“This is just about one of the best things anyone has ever done for me, Cal”, Ashton chuckled, shaking his head like he still couldn’t believe it. Suddenly he faltered a bit, and his face screwed up minutely like he was having some kind of internal argument before he blurted, “…You know what, fuck it. I was gonna try and play it cool, but this is just… _you’re_ just too much, Calum. I really fucking like you and I wanna know if you’d go on a date with me?”

Calum’s initial reaction was to stand stock-still, eyes wide and unblinking and mouth slightly ajar. It took him a couple of seconds to realise he actually needed to answer, Ashton had asked him on a fucking date, this was everything he hadn’t let himself hope for.

“Yeah”, Calum eventually exhaled in a rush of air. He hadn’t even realised he’d been holding his breath. “Yeah, I’d really like that Ash”, he continued softly, finally allowing a tender smile to creep onto his face.

Ashton was positively beaming back at him, lighting up almost like little fireworks were going off behind his eyes. He looked absolutely gorgeous, radiating with happiness and Calum’s heart felt like it was about to thump out of his chest. He still couldn’t believe this was happening – that his feelings for Ashton were mutual and they were both apparently equally captivated by one another.

“Great”, said Ashton, still looking into Calum’s eyes and grinning like a fool. “Are you free tomorrow night? I thought, well, I found this bar that I thought you might like and they have live rock music every Saturday so…”

“That sounds perfect, I can’t wait”, said Calum, trying to sound excited as opposed to dead nervous.

“Sweet, I promise it’ll be a good night. Here I’ll put my number in your phone, just text me your address and I’ll pick you up at seven.” Calum fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Ashton. Their fingers brushed and Calum found himself wanting to just grab Ashton’s hand and hold it tightly, like, forever. Ashton quickly tapped his number into Calum’s phone, and he must have noticed the time displayed at the top of the screen because he immediately exclaimed, “Shit is that the time!? I’m so sorry Cal, I gotta go or I’m gonna be late for class.” Ashton handed the phone back to Calum and started rifling around in his bag for his wallet.

“It’s fine Ash. And don’t worry about paying either, it’s on the house”, said Calum.

“You sure? I know it’s a pretty expensive order…”, Ashton trailed off uncertainly.

“Yeah I swear, don’t worry about it. Just buy me a drink tomorrow night or something”, smirked Calum. Ashton laughed, and his face pulled into a smirk of his own.

“You got it, babe. Text me, kay?”, he asked .

“Promise”, Calum reassured him. Suddenly, Ashton gently grabbed Calum’s fingers and raised them to his lips, kissed his knuckles and squeezed his hand once gently before letting go.

“Bye Cal, bye Luke. Have a good day!”, Ashton called animatedly, toothy smile plastered on his face.

“Seeya Ashton!”, yelled Luke, as enthusiastic as ever.

“See you tomorrow Ash”, chuckled Calum, rubbing his fingers over his knuckles where Ashton kissed them. Ashton waved briefly with his free hand before letting the glass door swing shut behind him and hurrying out of view.

As soon as he man was out of sight, Luke immediately stopped ‘cleaning’ the steamers and turned to Calum. “ _Dude_ , score! What a fuckin’ catch”, he said incredulously, then started laughing happily as he held his hand up for a high five. Calum half-heartedly slapped their hands together, still trying to let it all sink in. Fuck. He had a date with Ashton tomorrow. Before Calum even had a chance to compose himself a bit better and talk to Luke about what the _actual fuck_ had just happened, none other than Michael decided to make an appearance. He burst in through the shop door, making the little bell jingle so hard it nearly rattled off its little string.

“Morning!”, he chimed as he nonchalantly walked around the service counter and slipped an arm around Luke’s slim waist. He pressed a kiss to Luke’s pink cheek and grinned at him, before looking over to Calum. “Hey Calum, what has you so smiley at this time of the morning?”, he asked suspiciously, eyebrows furrowed. “Dude, stop, it’s freaking me out”.

“No can do”, smirked Calum, knowing that he wouldn’t hear the end of it if Michael found out (but let’s face it, Michael was as stubborn as an ox and was bound to find out one way or another).

“Tell me!”, exclaimed Michael exasperatedly. “Come on Cal, I’m your best friend. You’ve gotta tell me why you look so smug, like come on, that’s _my_ signature expression and it’s plastered all over _your_ stupid face”, he whined, resorting to grabbing Calum’s arm and shaking him. “Why? Why? Why? Why do you look like all of your Christmases have come at once? Why? Why? Tell me! Why?”, Michael chanted, voice getting progressively louder. Suddenly, he shut up, and Calum knew he was up to something because the most evil grin spread slowly over his face. Michael’s eyes flickered once to meet Calum’s before he spun around to face Luke, demanding, “Babe. Why?”

“LUKE DON’T-”

“Cal’s going on a date with Ashton tomorrow night”, said Luke plainly, and that was it.

“FUCK YEAH, CAL’S GONNA GET LAID! MY BEST FRIEND’S GOT A HOT DATE AND THEN HE’S GONNA GET LAID”, shouted Michael as he ran a victory lap around the store, whooping loudly and fist-bumping any random customer who was in the mood to entertain him. Judging by the giggles and snorts coming from the tables and booths, the patrons were thoroughly amused by the disruption to their otherwise peaceful morning coffee. Even Luke was absolutely shaking with laughter, so Calum put his head in his hands to cover his embarrassed smile and shook his head in defeat.

When Michael eventually made his way back around the counter, he slapped Calum on the ass as he walked past. “I’m proud of you bro”, he said sincerely as he returned to Luke’s side, pulling the blonde closer by the string on his apron.

“Thanks, Mike”, replied Calum as he cleaned up some spilt sugar, genuinely appreciative of his friend’s support. Obviously Michael had heard enough from Luke to know that Ash would take care of Calum if it came to it. Michael was the protective type after all, and Calum didn’t mind – he was just glad Michael approved.

“Hey Mikey”, Luke whispered, clearly starved for Michael’s attention as he pressed a kiss into the man’s unruly blue hair.  
“Hey, Luke”, replied Michael, tender as anything, before gently wrapping his arms around the taller boy and pulling him into an unhurried, smouldering kiss.

As Calum politely turned away from his two friends, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of sharpie on Michael’s coffee cup. His gaze skimmed over the lyrics that Luke had sneakily penned onto the cardboard.

_**[Sometimes I can’t help but say, I’m falling in love and it’s scaring me.](https://youtu.be/2iv9QGjnzOA?list=PLYQhPJrQIlgNR3SzyQQ-zOoB-H-S180jJ) ** _

Calum just smiled to himself, his eyes crinkling up and his lips quirking in a small but undeniably elated grin. He was really glad he bought almond milk.

****

Saturday

Calum ended up texting Ashton as soon as his shift finished on Friday. He couldn’t have waited longer if he tried. Somehow, a simple message containing his address and a “hope uni isn’t too bad”, evolved into a huge texting conversation that somehow lasted all up until Calum was lying on his bed, ready to sleep but not quite ready to stop talking to Ashton. They had talked about everything: how they were attending the same university, why Luke and Michael were so good together, how Calum started the bet with Derek, and how Ashton had made friends with a guy named Matt at the grocery store who reminded him of Michael. Calum had to play dumb on that one, but fortunately he was soon saved by Ashton himself.

 _Received: 9.55pm_  
_Yeah he’s got the dyed hair and piercings and everything it’s so weird._  
_Brb gotta shower_

Calum put down his phone and let out a long sigh. He felt like he could talk to Ash forever, would never get bored of finding out all of his big ideas and little quirks, so he decided to tell him that.

 _Sent: 9:57pm_  
_wish I could see you right now, I wanna talk to you properly. :(_

Calum would be the first to admit that he didn’t really have a filter when it came to texting, but he hadn’t even meant to be suggestive when he sent the message. Judging from the text Calum received five minutes later, Ashton also had no filter, but opted to be as suggestive as possible.

 _Received: 10.04pm_  
_you can see me ;) we’ll talk tomorrow. Night Cal, xx_

Now this message would’ve been extremely confusing if it hadn’t been followed up by the hottest, most sexual, surprisingly high-quality photo that Calum had ever seen. It was a picture of Ashton’s gorgeous, tanned abs, still dripping with water from his shower. The high angle that the photo had been taken from gave a perfect view of the white towel wrapped tight around the man’s slim hips. Consequently, the swollen bit at the front where his cock was trapped by the material was on full display, and Calum was fucking fuming. He wanted to yell and shout and maybe lick his phone screen and vigorously fist his cock until he bust all over himself. How _dare_ Ashton send something like that to him knowing full well that Calum couldn’t touch. Well, he thought, if that’s how Ashton wanted to play it, if he was gonna be a fucking tease, then so was Calum. He was gonna mess with the Australian so hard, and it was going to be glorious.

Calum didn’t reply to Ashton’s message, knowing that the older man didn’t want or expect him to. Instead, he waited around a bit, just lounging on his bed with his head propped up on two pillows and messing around with his phone. Occasionally he’d casually palm over his half-hard cock, not letting it properly go down from when it chubbed up at Ashton’s photo. He only had to think about Ashton’s abs, his biceps, his cock, before he was stiffening up even further. However, Calum had to wait until he knew Ashton would be asleep, so he gave it a solid hour until he simply couldn’t wait any longer.

Calum roughly tugged his black track pants down past his boxers until the tops of his toned thighs were uncovered. He curled one of his tan hands around his hard, clothed cock where it was trapped by his tight grey boxer-briefs. Calum grabbed his phone with his spare hand, angled the camera down his body and quickly snapped a picture. He squeezed his dick gently with one hand while he examined his photo. The picture was low-quality, a bit dim from the poor lighting in the room, but there was no doubt as to what it showed. Calum couldn’t have been happier with the end result; he noticed that he’d kept himself waiting and wanting for so long that his cock had leaked out a bit and formed a little dark spot on the cotton, visible in the photo. It was perfect. It was going to drive Ashton insane. Knowing that it’d be the first thing Ashton woke up to in the morning, Calum sent off a falsely innocent message with the photo attached.

 _Sent: 11.36pm_  
_look at what you did to me ):_

Knowing that his work was done, Calum discarded his phone on his bedside table and fell back against the pillows. He haphazardly tugged his underwear down to rest just under his balls and closed his eyes as he slowly pulled himself off. One hand teased the tip of his dick, spreading precome over the head while the other drifted down to his sack, rolling his sensitive balls around and imagining that it was Ashton’s lips on his cock instead of his own fingers. All it took was the slight rub and easy push of his middle finger over his hole before he was blowing all over his fist, hips lifting off the bed and breath coming out in a rush as he jacked himself through his orgasm. Calum lazily cleaned his hand off with tissues, pulled his pants up and flicked off the bedside light. Drifting to sleep, all he could think about was how he wished he could see the look on Ashton’s face tomorrow morning, and how he hoped Ashton made him _pay_ for it tomorrow night after their date.

****

What Calum was not expecting, was for Ashton to show up at work on Saturday morning.

Calum looked up from what he was doing as the little bell sounded like he always did, but flinched when he saw who had walked in. Ashton’s expression was absolutely stormy, his shoulders were pulled back and his stare was unwavering as he walked towards the counter. Calum opened his mouth to speak, but when Ashton’s eyes flashed like lightning, Calum closed it so fast that his teeth clicked.

At some point Luke stood up from where he was cleaning the lower cupboards behind the register. When he saw Ashton, he barked out a surprised, “Oh hey Ashton, what the hell man, do you have a class on a Saturday morning?”, but Ashton didn’t respond, almost like he hadn’t heard Luke at all. It was at that point Calum realised that while Ashton looked fucking thunderous, the intensity of his demeanour wasn’t necessarily caused by anger. It looked more like he desperately needed his dick sucked or something. Oh. _Oh…_ suddenly everything fell into place. Instead of acknowledging Luke’s question, Ashton just continued around the service counter and grabbed Calum’s wrist in one of his huge hands, before starting to drag Calum through the door to the back of the shop. Calum only just managed to squeak out a, “I’m taking my break Luke, cover for me”, before the door swung shut behind him.

All Calum heard in response was Luke’s muffled laugh and, “Try not to violate health and safety”, before Ashton was pushing him up against the metal table and pressing their mouths together. Calum immediately let out a sigh and sank into Ashton’s strong arms, revelling in finally being able to feel the man’s firm, demanding lips against his own. Calum broke the kiss briefly to plant his hands on the counter behind him, and jumped up so he was sitting on the bench. He spread his legs apart so that Ashton could settle between them, before smiling at him cheekily and dragging him in for another kiss.

And fuck, if it wasn’t the best kiss Calum had ever had. Kissing Ashton felt like that first sip of hot coffee after the first snow. It felt like warmth and safety and was filled with promise and Calum was addicted. He wrapped his arms around Ashton’s neck and smiled when he felt the other man’s fingers squeeze at his waist. Calum let a tiny moan escape his lips when Ashton started sucking at his lips, before licking into his mouth and working absolute magic with his tongue. Ashton was being a mind-numbing combination of gentle and firm and it was equally turning Calum on as it was turning his brain to mush. The Australian man was entirely overwhelming and Calum had never been more willing to give himself over, to let himself be taken care of. Ashton pulled away from Calum’s lips in favour of sucking fervently on his neck.

“Shit Cal, you’ve got no idea what you do to me, do you? I was so worked up this morning, so fucking hot for you that I just couldn’t wait ‘til tonight. I had to see you, had to show you how good you are”, he groaned. Ashton leaned away a bit and looked down, so Calum followed his gaze down only to be greeted with a perfect view of his semi, straining against the denim in a way that could only be uncomfortable.

“Been half hard since I saw that picture this morning”, admitted Ashton. “So I’ve decided that I should fix your problem from last night, then you can take care of mine. Sound good?”, he finished, but it really wasn’t phrased like a question. He was _telling_ Calum _exactly_ what was going to happen, and fuck, Calum was down for anything involving Ashton’s dick at this point.

Because of this, Calum simply moaned out a desperate, “fuck, yeah Ash, fuck yeah”, before Ashton grabbed his hand and yanked him off the counter and towards the store room. If Calum wasn’t so turned on, he probably would have laughed at the irony of being back where it all started, in the store room where he’d first become infatuated with Ashton’s voice.

As soon as the door was closed and Ashton had locked it, he turned around to rest his hands on Calum’s hips. Ashton pulled him in for another kiss as he backed Calum up against the brick wall at the far end of the small room. Calum let out a keening sound when Ashton resumed kissing his neck, licking up over his throat and sucking down near his collarbones. Calum fucking loved it; he could feel Ashton marking up his skin, kissing red smudges onto his dark complexion, sucking harder to make him moan. Calum felt Ashton’s hands slip slowly down from his hips to rest on his ass, and he pushed back into the touch, whimpered when Ashton tightened his grip.

“God baby, your ass is so fuckin’ nice. Been dreaming of doing this since the first time I saw you”, said Ashton as he kneaded Calum’s cheeks through the material of his pants. At that, Calum unwittingly thrust his hips forward, rubbing against the older man. Ashton only smirked at him as he moved a hand to the crotch of Calum’s jeans, feeling up his hard length before unabashedly dropping to his knees in front of him. Calum felt like he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t believe that they were actually doing this, that he was about to get his dick sucked, at work no less, by the hottest guy he’d ever seen. Before he could even come to grips with anything that was going on, Ashton had already skilfully untied Calum’s apron and was working his tight black jeans down his legs. The older man hooked a finger on the waistband of Calum’s underwear and slowly dragged the elastic down, watching intently as Calum’s cock jerked upwards when it was released from its confines.

“Fuck Cal, it’s even prettier than I imagined. Couldn’t believe how much you were leaking in that photo baby boy”, Ashton groaned as he slowly jacked Calum’s dick, working it to full hardness.

“Christ Ash, I’m not gonna last”, panted Calum as he buried his hands in Ashton’s long hair. Calum’s tummy clenched sporadically when Ashton pressed his tongue flat against the head of his cock, and he unconsciously started massaging Ashton’s scalp with his fingertips when the older man finally wrapped his lips around him. Ashton bobbed his head slowly on Calum’s flushed cock, and the brunette swore that the older man was trying to drive him insane with his tongue when he licked over the veins relentlessly. Ashton’s forearm pinned his hips up against the wall to stop him from bucking forward, while his other hand was squeezing the base of Calum’s dick gently, twisting every so often to make him gasp.

“Ash, Ashton- your tongue, fuck. Don’t stop-!”, Calum moaned brokenly and tilted his head back against the brick when Ashton swirled his tongue around the tip.

“You taste so good”, moaned Ashton, as he lapped up Calum’s precome when it dripped from the slit. “Come in my mouth, Cal, I wanna taste all of you”.

Calum was absolutely writhing, his words were too hot and Ashton looked too good and suddenly there was a tongue playing with the slit of his dick and,

“Ohhh fuck, Ash I’m gonna come!”, Calum gasped when he felt his dick swell and sack tighten, fingers curling in Ashton’s hair. Calum came with a strangled whimper, hips straining against Ashton’s weight and biting his lip in an attempt not to scream. Ashton lapped wetly at the head, jerking his dick tenderly to help him through the aftershocks. Calum felt overwhelmed, dizzy. He moaned needily when he saw his come coating Ashton’s tongue, which caused his knees to buckle and sent him to the ground. Ashton automatically wrapped his arms around Calum’s middle, bringing them closer together. Calum stared as Ashton licked his lips once before pulling Calum in for a delicious kiss, pushing his slick tongue between Calum’s pouty lips and letting him taste his own cum. Calum panted into Ashton’s mouth, just taking the man’s kisses pliantly while he breathlessly gulped down some much-needed oxygen.

“Ash… Ash… Ash…”, he chanted between the Australian man’s kisses. “Fuck, you were just, that was- your tongue…”, Calum babbled nonsensically as he leaned into Ashton’s body.

“You were so good for me baby boy, so, so good”, praised Ashton. “Feel how much I want you baby, how hard you made me with that dirty picture this morning?”, he said as he pushed his hips forward, grinding his stiff cock against Calum’s thigh. “You gonna take care of me?”

“Mhmm”, hummed Calum cutely as Ashton stood up, turning around so this time, it was his back pressed against the wall. Calum stuck a hand up, and Ashton’s eyebrows knotted together confusedly as he helped him stand up. “Can you, uh, can you take off your shirt, Ash?”, mumbled Calum hesitantly.

“Sure, Cal, anything”, Ashton reassured the younger boy, pecking his lips once before pulling his black t-shirt over his head and letting it fall to the floor. Calum tentatively put his hands on Ashton’s shoulders, then surged his whole body forward to kiss Ashton in a rush. Ashton groaned hotly into his mouth, and Calum started dragging his lips down the older man’s neck and over his adams apple until he was licking his way down Ashton’s right bicep. Ashton swallowed, realising what Calum was doing, so he lifted his arm up and flexed hard, indulging the younger boy. A moan was ripped out of Calum’s throat at the action, and he started grinding his hips into Ashton’s muscular thigh as he sucked hickeys into the sweaty skin.

“You like my muscles, baby boy? Do they get you off?”, asked Ashton cockily, though some of the effect was lost by how breathy he sounded.

“Yeah Ash, love them”, Calum mumbled against the man’s skin. “Been wanting to get my mouth on your biceps since I saw you in that white t-shirt. You’re so fucking hot.” Calum continued to suck and nibble at Ashton’s bulging muscles appreciatively until he could sense the older man’s impatience in his subdued moans. Calum sunk to his knees, kissing down Ashton’s abs as he went, flicking his tongue delicately over his tight stomach and sharp hip-bones.

Calum felt his cock twitch between his legs, and he realised that his own dick was nearly fully hard again. Ashton's muscles turned him the _fuck_ on, apparently. Calum was determined to give Ashton the best head he’d ever received in his life. He hastily undid Ashton’s belt and tugged his jeans down, and his eyes widened when he saw just how big the bulge in his boxers actually was. Calum carefully pulled the man’s underwear down to reveal Ashton’s enormous cock. It was flushed a dark pink colour, damp at the tip and the thick shaft was shaped perfectly. Calum’s mouth was watering just looking at it, so he didn’t hesitate to peer up at Ashton through his wide, chocolate-brown eyes when he sucked the tip past his full lips, lapping over the length of it.

“Yeaaahhh Cal, just like that”, groaned Ashton, threading his fingers through Calum’s thick hair. “Think you can take me deeper, baby?”, he asked lowly.

Calum relaxed his throat and loosened his jaw as he removed his hand from the grip it had on Ashton’s erection, blinking innocently up at the older man. Ashton must’ve caught on, because his large hand shifted to the back of Calum’s head and started gently guiding him forwards to take his cock deeper. The older man was being careful not to hurt Calum’s throat by pushing too deep too quickly or by being rough, and the younger boy was thankful for it, knowing he needed his voice if he was to return to work later.

“That’s it Cal, you’re doing so well baby”, murmured Ashton as he guided the younger boy’s bobbing motions, and Calum moaned around the dick in his mouth, blushing at the praise. He felt his own dick throb where it was hanging heavy between his thighs, and Calum hummed in relief as he wrapped his fingers around it, slowly tugging himself off. The next time Ashton’s dick was pushing at the back of his mouth, Calum ignored his gag reflex in order to squeeze his throat muscles and hum around the hard length as best he could before drawing back, keeping his eyes on Ashton’s face to gauge his expression. And fuck was it worth it.

“Fucckkk, baby boy, if you do th- that again I’m gonna come”, groaned Ashton in his gorgeous, husky voice, hunching over slightly like he’d just been punched in the gut. His eyes scrunched up and his mouth had fallen open, and Calum decided that his need to make Ashton come, to see his face screw up in pleasure, was greater than his need to breathe at this point in time.

“You look so good, so pretty with your soft lips wrapped around my cock”, murmured Ashton appreciatively. Calum just opened his mouth as wide as he could, stuck his tongue out so it was resting flat against the underside of Ashton’s cock, and slid down the shaft until his nose was pressed up against Ashton’s hard belly. He couldn’t see Ashton’s face anymore, but he could feel his fist clench is his hair and his hips jerk forward slightly like he couldn’t control his reaction. Calum’s eyes were streaming, but all it took was a drawn out moan around Ashton’s throbbing dick and the older man was groaning loudly, emptying his load down Calum’s throat. Calum pulled back slightly, humming around the head as he swallowed his cum, watching contently as Ashton’s strained expression dissolved into one of complete euphoria. As Calum frantically jerked his cock, all it took was a murmured, “You were perfect, baby boy. Wanna see you come”, from Ashton in that low tone and smoky accent, before it was Calum’s turn to shoot off, coming all over the floor with a loud moan.

Ashton sank to the ground, looped his arms around Calum’s waist and kissed him through his orgasm once more. He sucked lightly on Calum’s bottom lip and licked at his tongue, no doubt tasting himself there. “Holy shit Cal”, puffed out Ashton as he tried to catch his breath. “I can’t believe you came from deep-throating me. Like, _fuck_ me that’s so, God, you’re so sexy”.

“I aim to please”, Calum breathed happily, smiling against Ashton’s lips. He opened his eyes, gazing deep into Ashton’s hazel ones before placing a soft kiss on Ashton’s cheek. “Thanks Ash. I’m really glad I met you”, Calum mumbled, curling his arms around the man’s neck and hooking his chin over his shoulder.

“God Cal, thank _you_. I feel so lucky, like I dunno know what I did to deserve you”, chuckled Ashton bemusedly as he returned the cuddle. “I mean, you’re super cute _and_ incredible at sucking dick. What more could I want?”, he joked.

“Apparently I make good coffee too”, added Calum, shaking slightly with laughter.

“Boyfriend material”, smirked Ashton, and it wasn’t until the words were out of his mouth that he realised the weight of what he’d said. Calum pulled back to peer at Ashton’s face. The older man almost looked a bit sheepish, worried that maybe he’d said too much too soon.

“Yeah”, Calum agreed, smile creeping onto his face. “Boyfriend material”.

Ashton’s whole body seemed to relax as he beamed back at the younger boy before kissing him chastely on the mouth. The two men fell into a comfortable silence while Calum tugged his underwear back up, helping Ashton do the same. Calum ended up between Ashton’s legs, lounging with his back against the older man’s chest for a few minutes, arms tangled together and playing with each other’s fingers.

“I wish we could just fall asleep here Ash, but Luke might kill me”, Calum said eventually, as he sat up slowly. “I owe you some cuddles later though, okay?”

“Deal”, agreed Ashton as he stood up, tugging his shirt back over his head. Calum grimaced at the mess they’d made on the floor, and made a mental note to clean it as soon as possible.

“So I guess I’ll see you in a few hours then?”, Calum asked, blushing slightly when Ashton noticed him struggling to re-tie his apron and came to do it for him.

“Course, babe. Tonight at seven”, Ashton responded confidently, fishing a hair tie out of his pocket and tying his hair back off his face. Christ that looked hot. Calum wondered if Ashton would wear it like that tonight. Maybe he’d even let him tug it out, later.

Once they had both re-dressed themselves to an appropriate level of decency, Ashton grabbed Calum’s waist and pulled him into a long, lingering kiss that was filled with promise. “Give it five minutes”, he murmured hotly against Calum’s swollen lips, before winking and disappearing through the door. Calum slumped against the shelves, not even caring that he was grinning like an absolute idiot.

He couldn’t wait for tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> tell me what you thought, hmu with a comment, or an ask at [@mukeboy](http://mukeboy.tumblr.com). I like talking about muke, cashton and the ot4.


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